Dudhwa, Uttar Pradesh: An adult female leopard that had locals around Dudhwa Tiger Reserve terrorised for nearly two months was successfully captured by a team of Forest Department officials assisted by the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI).

The leopard had attacked six people – one adult and five children, with the first instance reported on September 26. Two of the victims including the first succumbed to the injuries caused.

The conflict-mitigation plan involved a multi-pronged approach. This included the formation of Primary Response Teams (PRT) in conflict areas to carry out campaigns to make people aware and keep themselves safe.

“If people can keep themselves safe, the conflict situation may not aggravate. Obviously this is difficult, as we cannot expect people to remain locked in their houses till the animal is caught, but we ask them to take precautions,” said Dr Devendra Singh Chauhan who led the WTI team including sociologist Prem Chandra Pandey and biologist Krishnendu Basak, in helping the Forest Department.

Meanwhile conflict prone areas were explored to track the animal and trap cages with live bait strategically placed to capture it.

“These trap cages have to be constantly moved, anticipating the leopard’s instincts, which is a logistic nightmare. These big cats are very smart and easily avoid these traps if they find anything suspicious. So, effective camouflage is absolutely essential to maximise chances of capture,” said Dr Anil Kumar Singh, Head of WTI’s Conflict Mitigation Division, who has formerly assisted Forest Departments in various states in capturing conflict leopards, and even tigers.

Following its latest attack on November 17, the animal was captured in one of the five trap cages laid in the vicinity of Katerniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary – a part of Dudhwa TR.